Iran, US to begin indirect nuclear deal talks in Qatar

Iran and the United States appeared poised on Tuesday to start indirect talks in Qatar aimed at finding a way to save Tehran's tattered nuclear deal with world powers.

The state-owned Tehran Times posted a photograph of Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Bagheri Kani, in a hotel lobby with Iranian Ambassador to Qatar Hamidreza Dehghani. The newspaper said Bagheri Kani was in Doha, the Qatari capital, for the resumption of the talks.

Rob Malley, the US special representative for Iran, arrived in Qatar on Monday night ahead of the talks. The US Embassy in Qatar said Malley met with Qatari Foreign Minister Mohammed Bin Abdulrahman Al Thani to discuss "joint diplomatic efforts to address issues with Iran,” but declined to immediately offer any other details about his trip.

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Iran and world powers agreed in 2015 to the nuclear deal, which saw Tehran drastically limit its enrichment of uranium in exchange for the lifting of economic sanctions. In 2018, then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord, raising tensions across the wider Middle East and sparking a series of attacks and incidents.

Talks in Vienna about reviving the deal have been on a "pause” since March. Since the deal’s collapse, Iran has been running advanced centrifuges and rapidly growing stockpile of enriched uranium.

Associated Press